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Key Point: Several states have enacted their own ‘mini-TCPA’ laws—state-level variants of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that impose additional restrictions on telemarketing—and the past year has brought notable enforcement and legislative developments at both the federal and state levels.

The TCPA was enacted in 1991 to safeguard consumer privacy by, among other things, requiring businesses to obtain consent before sending marketing solicitations over the phone. Through court rulings and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) interpretations, the law has expanded over the years to consider modern technologies. For example, the FCC and some courts have applied the law to SMS and other text messages. Several states have since passed more restrictive state-level “mini-TCPAs” that include additional call time restrictions, call frequency limitations, disclosure requirements, and expanded definitions of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS).

This regulatory landscape is still evolving; the last year alone has brought an enforcement update to the federal TCPA and telecoms law updates in Florida and Texas.

TCPA Update: Enforcement Date Extension

In January 2026, the FCC issued an order to further delay the “revoke-all” requirement’s effective date from April 11, 2026 to January 31, 2027. This requirement, if implemented, would require callers to presume a consumer’s revocation of consent from one type of call (such as a marketing call) applies to all future calls (such as servicing calls) from that caller. The enforcement date was extended to allow the FCC to review public comments filed during its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking process. This follows a previous one-year extension in April 2025 of the same requirements to grant companies additional time to modify their communication systems processes enterprise-wide. You can read more on the updated TCPA requirements and extension here. This is a welcome development, given the draconian $500 to $1,500 per violation statutory damages available under the TCPA (resulting in class actions seeking tens of millions of dollars or more).

In May 2023, Florida passed an update to the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) to clarify what constitutes consent and clear and conspicuous disclosure, and to provide a safe harbor period of 15 days for organizations to comply with a consumer’s request not to receive text message solicitations. The safe harbor was designed to combat a wave of class actions under the FTSA. Like the TCPA, the FTSA carries statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per violation and enormous class-action exposure. Relatedly, in July 2025, following another wave of class actions, Florida passed an amendment to another consumer-protection statute, the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (FCCPA). This amendment resolved a split among Florida courts on whether the FCCPA’s “quiet hours” restriction applied to emails. Under the amendment, it does not apply, and organizations are not restricted to sending email communications within the approved 8:00 am to 9:00 pm window that still applies to phone and text communications. This is welcome news for organizations that have faced $1,000-per-violation statutory damages and class actions of up to $500,000 in statutory damages (plus attorneys’ fees).

Texas mini-TCPA Update: Text Message, Registration, and Private Right of Action

In June 2025, Texas passed an amendment to the Texas Telephone Solicitation Act to include text message marketing (i.e., SMS, MMS) within the scope of “telephone solicitations” and expand compliance obligations for certain businesses that are either located in the state or market to customers in the state. In its original form, the law required businesses sending marketing communications, from within Texas or to Texas customers, to register with the Texas Secretary of State by completing a verified registration statement, paying a $200 filing fee upon registration and annually for renewal, posting a security of $10,000, and filing a consent form appointing the Secretary as the agent for service of process. The registration is valid for one year and must be renewed annually for as long as the business continues to market within or to residents of the state. Registered businesses must post the registration certificate and names of responsible individuals conspicuously at each business location, make the registration available for inspection by purchasers and government representatives, file quarterly addenda to amend or add information about salespersons, and file addenda for material changes in registration information. Some exemptions apply, including for various regulated entities like securities dealers, insurance licensees, and supervised financial institutions. Most notably, consumers now have a private right of action to enforce this law through the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (with potential recovery including treble damages and attorneys’ fees).

Looking ahead

The E-Commerce Innovation Alliance filed a petition with the FCC in March 2025 to address the increased plaintiff-led TCPA litigation and to seek a declaratory ruling confirming that individuals who had provided prior consent to receive marketing texts from a business could not initiate litigation against the same business for sending marketing texts during quiet hours. The Alliance also filed suit against the state of Texas in response to the Texas mini-TCPA marketer registration requirements, claiming the registration was “an unconstitutional restriction on relevant businesses’ protected commercial speech.” This Texas suit was settled after the state law went into effect and led to two major outcomes. First, the Texas Secretary of State agreed to provide guidance clarifying that businesses engaging in consent-based text messaging are not required to complete the Telephone Solicitation Registration Statement. Second, the Texas Attorney General agreed to issue a formal letter opinion clarifying that companies engaging in consent-based text messaging are not subject to the registration requirement.

With Florida and Texas legislatures agreeing to regulate state-level telemarketing, businesses looking to market to current and prospective customers across the country anticipate that more states will attempt to enact or revise their own mini-TCPA laws.